The soft glow of a laptop illuminated the dark room.
Outside the window, the city had already fallen asleep. Streetlights flickered quietly, and the faint hum of distant traffic echoed through the night. Inside the small room, however, someone was still awake.
The screen of the laptop displayed a shocking announcement.
A single line of text sat at the top of the page.
"Announcement: The author of Cultivates to Be an Immortal has unfortunately passed away. The novel will be discontinued."
For a moment, the internet was silent.
Then chaos erupted.
The comment section exploded with thousands of angry messages.
"What do you mean discontinued?!"
"You can't just end it like that!"
"This novel was just getting to the best part!"
"Why doesn't the company hire someone else to finish it?!"
"The main character hasn't even reached immortality yet!"
The novel had been one of the most popular cultivation stories online. Millions of readers followed it every week. It told the story of a young man who cultivated step by step, climbing through countless realms just to gain the power to protect his family and friends.
It was exciting. Emotional. Inspiring.
And now it had ended.
Just like that.
No final battle.
No ending.
No immortality.
Only an abrupt stop.
In a small apartment across the city, a young man stared silently at the screen.
His name was Wang Ping.
The faint blue light of the laptop revealed his tired face. He looked young—barely eighteen years old—but the heavy dark circles under his eyes made him look much older.
His hair was messy, and his eyes were bloodshot from staring at screens for too many sleepless nights.
On the desk beside him were empty snack wrappers, half-finished notebooks, and a cup of cold coffee.
Wang Ping sighed deeply.
"So it really ended…"
His voice was quiet.
He had been reading Cultivates to Be an Immortal for three years. Every update felt like an adventure. Every chapter made him imagine what it would feel like to cultivate, to control spiritual energy, to fight monsters, and to fly through the heavens.
But now…
The story was gone.
He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his tired eyes.
"What a waste of such a good story…"
For a moment, he simply stared at the screen.
Then something strange happened.
A small notification appeared in the corner of his laptop screen.
Inbox: 1 New Message
Wang Ping frowned.
"Who would send me a message at this time?"
He clicked the notification.
The message opened instantly.
The entire screen turned black.
At the center of the screen, glowing white text slowly appeared.
"Do you want to continue this story?"
Wang Ping blinked.
"What?"
He looked around the room.
No one was there.
He leaned closer to the screen.
"Is this some kind of game advertisement?"
The message remained.
The two options appeared below.
YES
NO
Wang Ping scratched his head.
"This is weird…"
But after thinking about it for a moment, he shrugged.
"If someone really continues the story, that would be amazing."
Without thinking much about it, he clicked YES.
The moment his finger pressed the touchpad—
The laptop screen exploded with light.
"W-What the—?!"
Before Wang Ping could react, a powerful force erupted from the screen.
The light swallowed him instantly.
His body felt weightless.
The room disappeared.
The world disappeared.
Everything turned into a swirling vortex of light and darkness.
"WAAAAAHHHH!"
Wang Ping screamed as his body was pulled forward like he had fallen into a cosmic tunnel.
His mind spun wildly.
He felt as if his entire body was being stretched across space.
*************
Then—
Everything went dark.
When Wang Ping opened his eyes again, he was lying on cold ground.
Above him was a bright blue sky.
Birds chirped in the distance.
The air smelled fresh and clean.
He slowly sat up.
"W-Where am I…?"
His voice trembled.
He looked around.
He was no longer in his apartment.
Instead, he was in the middle of a vast forest.
Tall ancient trees surrounded him. Their trunks were thick and twisted, their leaves forming a massive green canopy that blocked much of the sunlight.
The ground was covered with moss and fallen leaves.
In the distance, the gentle sound of flowing water could be heard.
A stream.
Wang Ping stood up slowly.
"This… this isn't possible."
He turned around several times.
"This isn't Earth."
His heart began to beat faster.
The forest looked too perfect. Too wild.
Just like the descriptions from cultivation novels.
"W-Wait…"
His eyes widened.
"Did I actually get transported into the story?!"
Before he could think further—
A deep growl echoed through the forest.
GRRRRRR.
Wang Ping froze.
"What… was that?"
The bushes behind him suddenly shook violently.
CRASH!
A massive beast burst out of the forest.
Wang Ping's pupils shrank.
The creature was enormous.
It looked like a monstrous combination of a lion and a leopard. Its body was over three meters long, covered in dark golden fur with black spots. Its muscles bulged under its skin, and its sharp claws dug into the earth.
Its glowing yellow eyes locked onto Wang Ping.
And its mouth was filled with razor-sharp fangs.
"W-What the hell is THAT?!"
The beast growled again.
Then it charged.
"RUN!"
Wang Ping turned and sprinted as fast as he could.
Branches slapped his face as he ran blindly through the forest.
The ground shook behind him.
The monster was fast.
Too fast.
"WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!"
His lungs burned as he ran.
He could hear the beast getting closer.
Its heavy footsteps thundered behind him.
He risked a glance backward.
The monster was only a few meters away.
Its massive jaws opened wide.
"I'M GOING TO DIE!"
Just as despair filled his heart—
A flash of silver light cut through the air.
SWISH!
The monster suddenly stopped.
For a split second, everything went silent.
Then—
THUD.
The beast's massive head slid off its body and crashed onto the ground.
Blood sprayed across the forest floor.
Wang Ping collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily.
"W… what just happened…?"
A figure slowly walked out from behind the trees.
It was a young man dressed in long flowing robes.
He looked around twenty years old.
His face was calm and sharp, his eyes bright and confident. His black hair was tied into a simple ponytail, and a long sword rested in his hand.
The blade was still dripping with blood.
The young man glanced at the corpse of the beast.
Then he looked at Wang Ping.
"You almost became dinner for that creature."
His voice was calm.
Wang Ping stared at him in shock.
"You… you killed that thing… with one strike?"
The young man nodded slightly.
"It was only a Rank 1 Demonic Beast."
He then frowned slightly.
"But you…"
His gaze scanned Wang Ping from head to toe.
"You have no spiritual aura at all."
"Who are you?"
Wang Ping stood up slowly.
"My name is Wang Ping."
He hesitated.
"And… who are you?"
The young cultivator sheathed his sword.
"I am Chen Tianyu, an outer disciple of the Azure Cloud Sect."
Wang Ping blinked.
Azure Cloud Sect.
He recognized that name.
It was a sect from Cultivates to Be an Immortal.
His heart began to race.
"I… I really came into the cultivation world…"
Before Chen Tianyu could ask more questions—
A glowing blue window suddenly appeared in front of Wang Ping's eyes.
Only he could see it.
*************
[SYSTEM INITIALIZING...]
[WELCOME HOST]
[ULTIMATE CULTIVATION SYSTEM ACTIVATED]
Wang Ping nearly screamed.
"What the—?!"
Chen Tianyu looked confused.
"What is it?"
Wang Ping quickly shook his head.
"N-Nothing!"
Inside his mind, the system began speaking.
[Host successfully reincarnated into the Cultivation World.]
[Host accepted the mission: Continue the story.]
Wang Ping swallowed.
"You mean… I agreed to reincarnate here?"
[Affirmative.]
His face turned pale.
"W-What about my home? Can I go back?!"
[Host authority level too low.]
[Insufficient level to access sensitive information.]
"What does that mean?!"
[By completing system missions, the host will receive EXP points.]
[EXP points can be used to increase cultivation level.]
[EXP points can also be used to instantly learn skills.]
[Condition: Host must possess the skill manual.]
Wang Ping's mind spun.
"So… this is really a system?"
[Correct.]
"How long have we been talking?"
[4 seconds.]
Wang Ping's eyes widened.
All of that happened in only four seconds.
Chen Tianyu was still standing there.
Watching him.
"What exactly is wrong with you?"
Wang Ping forced a smile.
"Nothing…"
But inside his heart, a storm had already begun.
A mysterious system.
A cultivation world.
And a story that was supposed to end.
But now—
It had started again.
And this time…
Wang Ping was inside it.